Whippy

The WCSU Tick lab adopted Whippy, after he was abandoned in late 2019. Besides being a great all-around addition to the tick lab, he provides therapeutic relief from staring at screens or looking through the microscope. As Whippy is nocturnal, we don't often see him catch prey, but when he's really hungry, we have witnessed him with cricket in pedipalps!

Whippy is considered a "whip scorpion," as he resembles an actual scorpion, but is not, in fact, a scorpion. Whip scorpions are also known as vinegaroons. Whippy is an arachnid in the genus Mastigoproctus (Harvey, M.S. [2013]. Whip scorpions of the World, version 1.0. Western Australian Museum, Perth. http://www.museum.wa.gov.au/catalogues/whip-scorpions), but we just call him our friend.

Whippy can spray a vinegar-like substance from the base of his tail, hence the name vinegaroon. Our Whippy is quite docile and enjoys eating crickets, drinking water droplets from the side of his container, and digging into the soil.